Inside the Manchester Centre, a lease of life has finally been injected into the veins of an otherwise downtrodden Tory Party Conference. "It was very uplifting, very positive and really, kind of, set the tone now," one Tory member told GB News.
Another member added: "Good gimmicks, excellent speech, well-rounded. Inspirational." However, it wasn't Kemi Badenoch who was currying favour with diehard Conservatives.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has made himself the darling of the Tory Party since missing out on the leadership last November.
"That, I think, is a potential future leader," one cheerful Conservative member chimed.
But Mr Jenrick has been notably coy about his underlying leadership ambitions in Manchester this year. The Shadow Justice's Secretary's allies dismissed speculation that the Newark MP has been plotting against Mrs Badenoch.
However, the 43-year-old's conference speech went well beyond Mr Jenrick's justice brief.
The Brexit convert even managed to set out his Vote Leave-themed agenda. "Conference, every tide turns," Mr Jenrick explained.
"I can feel Britain’s fortunes turning. So let’s pick ourselves up, let’s dust ourselves down, let’s draw on Britain’s greatness to make it greater still. Let’s fight for a better future, let’s build this new order. Let’s take our country back.”
The 43-year-old's conference speech went well beyond Mr Jenrick's justice brief
|PA
It is certainly not within the brief of justice to discuss the "roar of the crowd at Twickenham" or Chris Woakes batting at the Oval.
And Mr Jenrick even got the crowd roaring after out-performing Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp by landing a litany of jokes, mostly at the expense of his Commons rival David Lammy.
But Mr Jenrick is now setting out his stall. It's certainly further and faster than those held by his Shadow Cabinet colleagues.
"The two-tier Sentencing Council is not fit for purpose, so it must be abolished altogether," the Shadow Justice Secretary crowed. "Never again will this country and our people face the prospect of two-tier justice under two-tier Keir.”
Mrs Badenoch is facing pressure to deliver a major speech tomorrow
| PAThe wig-waggling Tory wasn't afraid of taking aim at Attorney General Lord Hermer either. "He’s wasted no time establishing himself as a useful idiot for our enemies," Mr Jenrick warned.
While other Shadow Cabinet Ministers have been addressing a half empty conference hall, Mr Jenrick's was brimming with energy.
It marks a huge shift from Sunday, when only a handful of attendees would have been aware that God Save the King was sung.
Following Mrs Badenoch's speech, a crowd gathered waiting for the man of the moment.
The Shadow Justice Secretary was all smiles during his speech
|PA
One veteran conference-goer, who had been waiting for at least 30 minutes to hear from Mr Jenrick, asked: "Was Kemi speaking?"
Over the past 12 months, while Reform UK reaches its dizzy heights of around 30 per cent in the polls, support for the Tories nationally has tanked.
However, Mrs Badenoch doesn't need to worry about that too much. Tory insiders admit that they are in for a pasting next May, when Wales and Scotland look set to get swept up in a teal tidal-wave.
More concerning for the Tory leader is what is happening inside the increasingly desperate Tory Party.
Mr Jenrick has managed to spark a wildfire from the dying embers of the Tory Party, and it will be up to Mrs Badenoch to put out the blaze before it's too little, too late
|PA
YouGov found that if Mrs Badenoch faced off against Mr Jenrick today she would lose.
Speeches today won't help put to bed speculation about yet against Tory leadership contest any time soon.
Polished, positive, punchy. To Tory members in Manchester, it was all they ever asked for. But the pressure is on Mrs Badenoch now.
Mr Jenrick has managed to spark a wildfire from the dying embers of the Tory Party, and it will be up to Mrs Badenoch to put out the blaze before it's too little, too late.